International education as teacher education: A curriculum of contradictions

Abstract International Education is an ambiguous term for various concepts and practices applied to diverse educational contexts. The International Teacher Education Module (ITEM) in the Professional Development Program of the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University offers a teacher education program intended to connect educational theory to classroom practice within a context of internationalization. To this end, students from the ITEM complete the first program semester in out-of-country sites. This thesis is based on interviews with educators involved with the ITEM in Trinidad and Tobago, and in Oaxaca, Mexico, and interviews with six student teacher informants from the ITEM's ninth cohort. The research is grounded in my 10-year history with the program, supplemented by input from other faculty and ITEM graduates. To assess the philosophies and practices of this program I have employed identity theory as conceived by Holland, Lachicotte Jr., Skinner, and Cain, social theories of learning based in the work of Etienne Wenger, diverse concepts of International Education, and various voices and perspectives from post-colonial literature. Through these views I have written a friendly critique of the stated themes and objectives of the ITEM, and of International Education as enacted by this program. Analysis of the data showed that the ITEM student teachers develop strong philosophical bases and a sense of personal and professional identity through which they approach their teaching. All were able to formulate personal and professional concepts of International Education from their experiences in the out-of-country sites and through curricular applications in their final, local classroom practica. The educators from Oaxaca and from Trinidad and Tobago, conversely, were unclear about the concept of International Education, largely unaware of the philosophical intents of the ITEM, and had no personal or professional investment in its theories or practices. Through the multiple theories employed, I argue that the ITEM enacts an ethnocentric concept of International Education in its out-of-country semester, based in the goodwill of its host countries, which mimics a colonial relationship. This thesis recommends a reciprocal conceptualization and practice of International Education developed from an educational relationship that includes negotiation and exchange with all countries involved.